Lawmakers Talk Pension as Top Priority

Friday, January 6, 2017

Columbia, SC - Several South Carolina lawmakers met with the press Thursday during the SC Press Association workshop. Lawmakers spoke about the most important topics that they will discuss when session starts on Tuesday.

"The pension needs to be a top priority during this session, and it's good to see legislators realizing that," said Treasurer Loftis. "They need to come up with a permanent solution to fix the pension now, before it's too late."

Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter spoke up about how it's time for a solution to the issues. "When we talk about fixing the pension, I will not be a part of anything that puts the fix on the backs of state employees," said Cobb-Hunter. Cobb-Hunter compared the pension to a math problem, and said "When are some of us going to pass math as a subject? Because we keep flunking math when it comes to funding our core services of government."

Senator Vincent Sheheen proposed raising the cigarette tax to help fund the pension system. He also compared the pension to the roads, saying they both come from failed leadership.

"Representative Cobb-Hunter and Senator Sheheen have done a great job bringing attention to the pension issues," praised Treasurer Loftis. "It's good to see lawmakers addressing the pension system as a top priority that needs to be fixed sooner rather than later."